


Indisposition

by Anonymous



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bucky Barnes & Peggy Carter Friendship, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Captain America: The First Avenger, Drabble, Forced Vomiting, Medical Trauma, Nausea, Other, Post-Battle of Azzano (Marvel), Recovery, Sickfic, Vomiting, post-serum Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:53:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24971863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Peggy catches Bucky trying to make himself sick from the serum and helps him out.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peggy Carter, James "Bucky" Barnes/Peggy Carter, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 60
Collections: Anon Works





	Indisposition

The sensation of nausea creeping its way into Bucky's throat only intensified once the 107th returned to camp despite leaving the stuffy, agonisingly hot HYDRA base behind. For the better part of the journey he'd been able to ignore it; the adrenaline of Steve finding his regiment, having to witness the modifications to his best friend's body who used to weigh half of what he did now, and fighting his way out of the base had kept him going for most of it. But once they'd arrived back it only seemed to swell in intensity, although he wasn't sure if it was from the stuff they'd pumped into him over the past few weeks or if it was the expression on Steve's face as he gazed at the woman only centimetres away. What was her name? Peggy? For a moment, Bucky wasn't even interested; he could feel his knees starting to tremble and his stomach rolling the longer he stood. When the group started to clap, and Steve shot him a smile, Bucky returned it and took his chance to slip away while he was being congratulated. The gnawing sensation in his stomach was beginning to hurt, and bad. He walked for a couple of minutes, until he was out of sight from the rest of the group, unaware of the tail he'd acquired on the way. That's when he felt his stomach trying to expel its contents and he doubled over, retching hard and grabbing the tree closest to him in support. A bitter taste flooded his mouth, but nothing came up. The pain only exacerbated, and he closed his eyes and let out a soft groan, trying to catch his breath. He stood for a couple of minutes, hand on his stomach while the other gripped the tree trunk until he retched again, this one barely any more productive than the first. That's when he let out a frustrated sound, breath quickening and sweat beginning to drip down his temple. It stayed like that for what seemed like a century, until Bucky finally pulled his hand away from his stomach and tentatively pressed a couple of fingers into his mouth. At this point he didn't care that he wasn't sure the last time he washed his hands; he just wanted this foreign substance _out_ of his body.

"I wouldn't advise that."

Bucky stiffened as a clear, accented voice broke through the silence, and he glanced back to spot the woman Steve had been eyeing back with the rest of the group. Peggy. She was alone, thankfully, but it still didn't sit well with him to have an audience while he was struggling to puke his guts up. "Ma'am." He simply responded, voice definitely weak from strain. He turned back to the tree just as he heard footsteps crunching the leaves surrounding them.

"Are you ill?" She asked, coming to stand beside him and lightly resting a hand on his back. Instantly, all of the muscles tensed underneath it.

"I just…" He paused, sighing, trying to find the words. "I don't feel… I need to get it out, you know?" He cringed at how awkward the conversation was, still tensing when she moved her fingers along his spine and swallowing thickly.

"I know." Peggy removed her hand, before shifting so that she was behind him. "Do you trust me?"

"Honestly? No."

"Well I'm certain my hands are a lot cleaner than yours, judging by the dirt under your nails," she said simply, moving her fingers to gently brush against Bucky's lips. "Open up."

For a second, Bucky remained dead still. But when she didn't move, or laugh, he obeyed, parting his lips nervously for her to slip a couple of fingers into his mouth. He felt her press down at the back of his throat and his stomach contracted again, eyes squeezing shut. He gagged a couple of times around her fingers, until there was a rush at the base of his throat and she removed them, allowing him to expel the contents of his stomach onto the ground. With a groan, he closed his eyes and retched again, the bitter taste of stomach acid flooding over his tongue.

"There you go…" Peggy had her clean hand back on his back, rubbing small circles into the taut muscles as he pitched forward and vomited again. "You know, I'm going to have to ask about this." She gestured to the pile of sick on the floor, which was an unnatural violet in colour.

Bucky nodded in response, lacking the energy to respond to her at the present time. He simply gasped for air, trying to get as much of it as he could back into his lungs, before straightening up. There was still the unnatural fullness in his stomach he couldn't quite put his finger on. Especially since he hadn't been fed proper rations in weeks. By the time he'd stopped shaking, Peggy had cleaned off her fingers and was dabbing at his forehead with a cloth. He didn't see where she got it from, but murmured a small "thanks" anyway.

"What did they do to you in there?" She asked softly, a small frown on her face as she wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

"Um. I'm guessing something to do with what Steve had done to him?" Bucky shrugged, glancing back at Peggy and letting her wipe his mouth. "Some serum. They put some in my blood with needles, some stuff was through some kind of feeding tube, I don't know…" He gestured to the vomit on the floor. "No one they'd tested on from my regiment came back from it. Guessing they all, you know."

Peggy nodded in response, before fishing in her bag for a canteen of water. "Here," she offered it to him. "I can always get another. You look like you haven't been hydrating sufficiently for a while."

"Thank you." Bucky gave her a weak smile, and took a long drink from the bottle. The coolness soothed his burning throat, and he stepped away from the mess on the floor by his feet. "I'm sorry for…" He gestured again.

"Oh I've dealt with worse, really. A bit of sick isn't much of an issue in comparison." Bucky nodded, and took another drink. "Think you're ready to go get checked over?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Bucky exhaled softly, screwing the lid back onto the canteen. "Don't, um… Don't tell Steve, yet. Please." He pleaded, and his muscles visibly relaxed when she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not my place. But you must tell him; we're going to have to do some tests to see if Zola-" Bucky visibly flinched, so she continued more softly, "was successful in recreating the serum."

"That's fine." Bucky agreed, and he followed the woman back to the camp, an uneasy feeling still residing in his stomach. "Thanks again, ma'am."

"You're quite welcome."


End file.
